Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair: Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society was originally published as a 19-volume monthly serial from 1847 to 1848, a satire set during the Napoleonic Wars. It was published as a novel in 1848, subtitled "A Novel without a Hero."[Illustrations by Thackeray, from the first edition: Becky Sharp as a "syren", a man-killing mermaid.]